Unexpected Preliminaries!
:The team sets out for the underworld of the humans... The SnS Tournament arc starts now! Arrival "It's truly something, isn't it?" Itsuki stated, viewing a large landmass in the distance. The team had ridden on a large vessel on pursuit for the island which would host the competition, courtesy of the tournament committee in charge of the event. One glance was enough to determine that it was cut off from any trade routes or common visitation, full of foliage and sandy beaches. But as they approached the isolated island, they could begin to see a massive dome-like structure at the heart of the island. "That must be... where the tournament will be taking place." Minato had spoke, the others looking in the same direction. But Kōya was actually looking around the ship, noticing the vast degree of teams and participants that were also hitching a ride for the upcoming tourney. "It seems we'll be having plenty of competition in this competition. Do you have a plan, Captain?" addressing Minato, clearly. Despite being on the same team, Kōya did not respect Minato as their "team" leader, nor did he have any intention to work under him as some sort of subordinate. In response, Minato simply scratched his head, bearing a rather dumbstruck facial look. "I suppose... just keep fighting and fighting until we win?" A rather straightforward remark, but Kōya merely scoffed at its simplicity. Suddenly however... "AGHHH!" roared one of the participants, having quickly caught on flames. Blue fire raged and enveloped his body until it became nothing but ash. The teams aboard the ship quickly stared in shock, Team Kuramoto being no exception to this. "Th... the hell happened?!" answered Hakkōda with disbelief. Suddenly, the same had just occurred with another participant. A man descended from the shipping deck, and looked over at Hakkōda and the others. "I take it you are not aware of the preliminaries." he spoke. "Preliminaries?" Itsuki answered. Kōya sighed gently. "I've heard of this. Around the island, there is a barrier set up which makes it impossible to enter without possessing the minimum level of spiritual energy that it demands. Unless you wear some sort of special spirit sticker that prevents this. They consider this an informal... preliminaries, killing off all the humans who are deemed too weak to participate." he finished. Minato's eyes twitched a bit, "So that's the kind of tournament this is..." Kōya then smirked. "What's wrong, detective? Getting cold feet? I told you from the start. If you don't have what it takes... you'll die." he warned as he walked over to where Itsuki was standing. Minato shut his eyes. Unable to process this entire situation. But he wouldn't have much time to do so. "We've arrived." the boatman said as the ship slowly began pulling into the beach on the island. Entering the Stadium Slowly, the teams that survived aboard the boat were led off and onto the beach where the boatman from earlier stood onto a wooden stand and looked out toward the crowds. "Can I please have everybody's attentions please! Excuse me! Everybody, all eyes here!" Noticing as all eyes were on him, he pulled out a slip of paper. "Now that we have finished the preliminaries, those of you who remain will be led into the stadium for the opening ceremonies. As I call your team's name, please walk down the forest path until you reach the gates." He looked down to the slip of paper and began to call out names. "Team Kaitō." he began with, referring to a team of four led by a black-haired teen. "Next... Team Tanaka." followed shortly afterwards, addressing, referring to a all-female team of three. And so the boatman continued. "Team Byaki." "Team Griffin." "Team Dufresne." "Team Swordedge." "Team Yoko." "Team White." The man continued to name team after team, Minato could only stare at each team's members as they walked to the dirt path leading to the stadium. Some were complete teams with five members, while others were only fragments of that; composed of four members or three, perhaps even two. It didn't matter in terms of rules though. The tournament, after all, did not demand any minimum number of contestants for each team. "They all look like I could meet them at a high school or college... It's hard to believe there are so many humans with high spiritual powers." he muttered as Itsuki walked to his side. "I'm surprised so many of them passed through the barrier. All it means is that we will have that much more competition. Minato-san, are you sure you'll be ready?" Minato merely smirked softly. "I trained with the Seijin... with Seireitou-shishō and Saori-dono... I'm Kawahiru Dojang's first disciple, Minato Kuramoto. And I'm also... a Jinki Fragment. Mūkade will stop at nothing to get me and Nǚwā will make sure to crush me by any means necessary. I don't have a choice here... I must be ready. I refuse to let everybody down." Itsuki could only smile at his determination. "Well said." Hakkōda, who was overhearing, also could not help but form a grin. Kōya and the surprisingly silent Rūka nodded in agreement. "Team... Kuramoto!" Minato quickly looked up as his teammates followed suit. "Alright guys... let's go." the team leader spoke, as they went down the forest path. ~END~ *'Next:' Ragin' Competin'